The subject matter disclosed herein generally relates to packaging machines. More specifically, the subject invention relates to a packaging machine having an adjustable wand.
Packaging machines typically convey a product or group of products along a pathway, for example, a conveyor. A piece of wrapping material is typically located on the pathway underneath the product. As the product travels along the pathway, an arm, typically called a “wand”, is moved in a predetermined path, lifting a trailing portion of the wrapping material over the product and to the front of the product to form a roughly tubular shape of wrapping material around the product. The desired path of the wand depends on the size and shape of the product or group of products to be wrapped in the material. To change the path of the wand to accommodate products of different shapes and sizes, the packaging machine must typically be stopped, and some intervention by an operator, often in the form of changing parts on the packaging machine, must occur to perform the necessary adjustments to the path of the wand. Stoppage of the machine to perform adjustments results in machine downtime which decreases productivity of the packaging machine, and reduces flexibility of usage of the packaging machine. The art would well receive an adjustable wand for a packaging machine whose path is changeable without stopping the machine or requiring manual intervention by an operator.